To sign 'trees', hold your non-dominant arm horizontally across your body with the palm facing down, representing the ground. Place the elbow of your dominant arm on the back of your non-dominant hand, keeping your dominant forearm pointing straight up with your fingers spread wide. Twist your dominant hand back and forth a few times. To indicate multiple trees, move your dominant arm slightly to the side and repeat the twisting motion.
To sign this sentence, you can first sign 'trees', and then use a descriptive classifier with your hands fluttering downward to represent the leaves gently falling from the branches to the ground.
Start by signing 'we' and 'walk'. Then, sign 'trees' by moving your dominant arm across your non-dominant arm to show a plural group of trees, or use the sign for 'forest' if it's a dense area.
Point to yourself for 'I', sign 'love', and 'look-at'. Then sign 'trees', making sure to repeat the tree motion in a couple of different locations to clearly show that there are many trees around.
To sign this sentence, you can first sign 'trees', and then use a descriptive classifier with your hands fluttering downward to represent the leaves gently falling from the branches to the ground.
Start by signing 'we' and 'walk'. Then, sign 'trees' by moving your dominant arm across your non-dominant arm to show a plural group of trees, or use the sign for 'forest' if it's a dense area.
Point to yourself for 'I', sign 'love', and 'look-at'. Then sign 'trees', making sure to repeat the tree motion in a couple of different locations to clearly show that there are many trees around.
To sign 'forest', you use the base sign for 'tree', but instead of just placing it in one or two spots, you slide your dominant arm continuously along the back of your non-dominant arm from the wrist toward the elbow. This sliding motion shows a dense, continuous area of many trees.
Yes, it does matter. You should always use your dominant hand for the upright 'tree' and your non-dominant hand for the flat 'ground.' This follows a general grammatical rule in ASL where the dominant hand performs the primary action or more complex shape, while the non-dominant hand acts as a stationary base.
Typically, you will fingerspell the specific name of the tree first—such as O-A-K, P-I-N-E, or M-A-P-L-E—and then immediately sign 'tree.' This combination of fingerspelling and the base sign is the clearest and most standard way to specify the exact type of tree you are talking about in ASL.
